BOGOTA – Police arrested a suspected member of an illegal mining network and seized more than 19 tons of coltan, a metallic ore used to manufacture cell phone circuit boards, in Puerto Inirida, a Colombian city near the border with Venezuela, the National Police said.

The police operation, which was conducted jointly with prosecutors in Puerto Inirida on Saturday, targeted a residence in the city’s La Primavera neighborhood.

Investigators found 19.6 tons of the black metallic ore in a room at the house and arrested the suspect on illegal mining charges.

“The person arrested and the property were turned over to the appropriate authorities,” the National Police said in a statement.

Investigators determined that the coltan was illegally mined from areas near the Inirida and Guaviare rivers. The mineral was to be taken to Bogota, where it would sold.

Coltan is highly sought by foreign industrial corporations, which use it in the manufacturing of technology products, National Police Gen. Rodolfo Palomino said.

“This is a product that is used both for cell phones and for other communications equipment,” Palomino said.

Colombia only permits mining by companies registered with the Mines and Energy Ministry, which grants concessions for extracting the mineral, but some Indians in the jungle region mine the metallic ore illegally and sell it along the border with Venezuela.

“This mineral could be worth up to $2 million on the international market,” Palomino said.

Coltan is used to produce cell phones, computers, video game consoles and other high technology devices.